1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a light box assembly in which a light bulb within the box serves to illuminate a film transparency placed behind a semi-reflective mirror mounted on the face of the box whereby the transparency image is visible only when the bulb is energized, and more particularly to an assembly that has an electronic monitor which transmits the image and sounds of the infant or patient to a transceiver in the located proximate to the caregiver and to a mobile telephone of the caregiver, in response to a distress sound made by the infant or patient.
2. The Prior Art
It is known in the toy field to provide a “Magic Mirror” in which placed behind a semireflective mirror is a light box covered by a film transparency. When an electric light bulb within the box is turned on to illuminate the transparency, a child looking at the mirror then does not see his own reflection, but the illuminated image, for the mirror is then effectively transparent. Also included in a Magic Mirror toy is a sound unit which when the bulb on the light box is turned on, then reproduces recorded sounds appropriate to the image being presented. Thus, if the image is that of a dog, the reproduced sounds would be that of a dog barking.
Essential to a Magic Mirror and to an assembly in accordance with the invention is a mirror which in one mode of operation is effectively transparent and in another is effectively reflective. For this purpose, the mirror must be a semi-reflective mirror.
A conventional plane mirror is fabricated by evaporating a metallic film on the rear surface of a transparent plate made of glass or acrylic plastic material. In most mirrors, the reflecting film is aluminum which is deposited on a substrate by evaporation in vacuum. The advantage of aluminum is that it has a broad spectral band of high reflectivity. Almost all aluminum-coated mirrors are “overcoated” with a thin protective layer, such as a layer of magnesium fluoride.
While a conventional aluminum-coated mirror has an average reflectivity of close to 90 percent, mirrors are known whose coating imparts semi-reflective characteristics thereto. Thus, a beam impinging on a semi-reflective mirror is split into two parts, one begin transmitted through the mirror, the other being reflected thereby.
If the face of a light box is covered by a semi-reflective mirror behind which is a film transparency, then when the box is dark, an observer looking into the mirror sees his own reflection. But if the box interior is illuminated, the observer then sees the image of the transparency, for the mirror is then operating in a light transmitting mode.
The concern of the present invention is with a light box and mirror assembly that is installable in a crib or other enclosure occupied by an infant or adjacent a bed for an adult patient or older child in need of monitoring, the assembly being interactive with the infant or patient in a manner to be later explained. The most difficult aspect of infancy from a mother's standpoint lies in the sleep habits of her infant. Whether an infant lying in a crib or other enclosure is able to sleep soundly depends on two factors, one being physical and the other psychological. The physical factor turns mainly on whether the infant is hungry or in pain, for in either case the infant will be unable to sleep and will cry out to attract its mother's attention. But many infants who are not disturbed physically, are unable to sleep soundly because they are in a state of anxiety.
An infant's existence centers on its mother, and a sense of security in regard to its mother is therefore essential to the infant's proper psychological equilibrium. All infants, however well cared for, remain anxious as to their mother's whereabouts. This insecurity does not vanish in later years, for many pre-school children carry security blankets to reduce anxiety. The crib in which an infant lies is usually placed in the mother's bedroom or in a nursery adjacent this bedroom so that should the infant cry out, the mother will be aroused from sleep and attend to her baby. But whether in the course of a night the mother is awakened by her infant because the infant is physically uncomfortable or in a state of anxiety, in either event, the mother's sleep is interrupted. A mother's loss of sleep is perhaps the most exhausting aspect of raising an infant. A similar situation exists with elderly patients who have dementia. These patients often need frequent supervision, monitoring and reassurances, even during normal sleeping hours.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,034 to Zisholtz discloses a playback device activated by the sound of a crying child to play a recording of the mother's voice. It is also known to provide an electronic monitor to radio-transmit the sounds made by an infant in a crib to a receiver in the necessity of the infant's mother or caregiver.